Over-lapping conveyor belt joints are known and used in many applications. In recent years agricultural swath pick-up belts have used the over-lapping joint wherein the two ends of the belt are over-lapped and bolted together. On the whole such a joint has been an improvement over the prior joining method of a pin through lacings on each end of the belt.
A problem with the over-lapping joint is that the bolts squash the belt, causing the belt material to buckle and gap between the bolts. When used on an agricultural swath pick-up such as that used on combines, crop material becomes jammed in these gaps causing pressure and stress on the belt material. In other applications, material of various kinds causes the same problem. The industry has used a straight plate over the gap in an attempt to remedy the problem with little success.
Another problem with the over-lapping joint is that the flat bolt heads on the underside of the joint cause the belt to jump when passing over the roller, stressing the rollers and belts as well as causing vibration.
The present invention provides a belt joint cover which is formed so as to alleviate these problems.